Positional Sanctification

Temple Baptist Church - 2-3-2016

Jude 1

 

Introduction: 

 

A. One of the most important of doctrines is that of biblical sanctification.  We have covered this numerous times over the past 28 years but there are actually three distinct areas of sanctification in the life of every believer.  I will not cover all three of these tonight because I want to stay with my text.

1.  There is Positional Sanctification (Relationship), which is an act of God - 1 Corinthians 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:  (At the moment of salvation, the believer is set apart from the world positionally through Jesus Christ.  He is the believer’s sanctification.  We are baptized into Christ and remain secure!)

 

Colossians 3:3-4  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  (4)  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

 

2.  There is Practical Sanctification (Fellowship), which is an act of the believer - Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  (When we are saved, we remain just a sinner saved by the grace of God.  As we mature in the Lord and grow in our faith, we are being constantly changed by both the Spirit of God who indwells us and the Word of God that teaches and guides us.)

 

3.  There is Permanent Sanctification, which is an act of God - 1 Thessalonians 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  (We will be forever delivered from the presence of sin at either death or the rapture of the church.) 

 

B.  I may take the time to deal with all three but our text points out some things that are directed at our position in Christ Jesus and how we got there. 

 

1.  Positional and Permanent Sanctification are distinct works of the Lord as He becomes the propitiation for the sinner and ultimately comes to take him or her home to heaven one day. 

 

2.  Practical Sanctification is a work of the saint!  It is the act of separating from the world and unto the Lord; therefore, it is a very positive thing, not a negative one.  Sanctification is obedience to God’s Word and, therefore, to the Son of God.  We are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

C.  The doctrine Positional Sanctification or Eternal Life.  There are two words used in verse one that says it all: sanctified and preserved.  Jude 1 is a peculiar verse as it contains two words that are the Last Mention of those words describing a single doctrine.

 

1.  Sanctified:  One of the most misunderstood of all Bible doctrines!

 

a.  The First Mention of sanctified - Genesis 2:1-3  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  (2)  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.  (3)  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.  (Here, we find in the first mention of sanctified that it is a work that has ended and the end result is rest!  We certainly cannot work for our salvation, but—once saved—our position in Christ is a finished work.  We can neither work to be saved nor can we work to remain saved.  We are saved!  It is an eternal work done by God.)

 

b.  The Last Mention of sanctified - Jude 1  “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:”  (Positional Sanctification is a work of God alone!  As creation was His work, the security and eternality of His salvation is His work!)

 

1 Corinthians 1:30-31  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:  (31)  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.  (Notice the words “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus.”  God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption that no flesh should glory before the Lord!)

 

1 Corinthians 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.  (Notice the “ye are.”  We do not wash ourselves spiritually; we do not sanctify ourselves spiritually; and we do not justify ourselves spiritually.  These are works of God.)

 

Colossians 2:9-15  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  (10)  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:  (11)  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:  (12)  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.  (13)  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  (14)  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;  (15)  And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.  (Positionally, we are complete in Him.  There has been a circumcision inwardly through the faith of the operation of God.  We are alive with Him and perfectly righteous through Him.)

 

2.  Preserved:  One of the most maligned of all Bible doctrines.

 

a.  The First Mention of preserved - Genesis 32:30  And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.  (Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord, saw Him face to face, and lived!  He could have and should have died but through the grace of God, his life remained intact!  Thus the word “preserved” means something kept in the same condition by the will and act of God!)

 

b.  The Last Mention of preserved - Jude 1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:  (Our preservation or eternal salvation is not based upon our merit but upon the fact that, when saved, we are placed into Jesus Christ.  We become a part of the body of Christ which is also called the church.  A salvation that is not eternal is not the salvation that God gives to us.)

 

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  (Everlasting and eternal life mean just exactly what they say.  Everlasting life has a beginning at the moment of salvation but no end.  Eternal life is the life of God with neither beginning nor end: literally the life of God.)

 

John 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.  (“Shall not” is an absolute negative.  It mean never under any condition.)

 

John 10:28-29  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  (29)  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.  (The Armenian believes that you can take yourself out of God’s hand but the words “no man” is all inclusive!)

 

Conclusion:  Saved and forever I am!